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— BY — 

J. ^?V. S. Campbell, Esq, 



For a hundred years and more at every banquet this state 
society of the Cincinnati has with becoming reverence 
toasted the memory of the first president-general, his excel- 
lency George Washington. It is right and proper that this 
should continue to be done for all time, yet, had the mighty 
influence of Washington prevailed, and the redrafted Insti- 
tution of 1784 been ratified by all the state societies, the 
Cincinnati long ago would have ceased to exist. Fortunately 
from 1885 I have been able to attend every meeting of this 
state society, save three. I have been the guest of other state 
societies and it has also been my privilege to attend many 
tri-ennial meetings of the general society, but never in any 
gathering of the Cincinnati have I heard a toast in honor of 
its most illustrious founder, Major-General Henry Knox, 
Washington's chief of artillery. 

To me this has been a source of wonderment, while it is 
true that the most careful reading of the Institution gives 
no indication of its author, it is hardly fair to ascribe ignor- 
ance of the master mind as the cause of this glaring neglect, 
for if it be proper to honor the memory of its first president- 
general, however illustrious, the memory of the man whose 
mind conceived and whose hand drafted the Institution, 
should, it seems to me, with infinitely more propriety be 
revered so long as its patriotic influence and beneficience 
are perpetuated. 

It is equally difficult to understand why in the written 
history of this country, the commanding character, pre- 
eminent abilities and invaluable service of General Knox 
are almost as inconspicuous as in the literature of the Cin- 
cinnati. 



2 Address by J. W. S. Campbell 

As has been well said, one who won and held the esteem 
of Washington as Knox did, was no common man. 

John Knox, that stern reformer, made the name of Knox 
forever famous. The family of Henry Knox however does 
not appear to have been related to him. It originated in 
the lowlands of Scotland from whence many vScotch Pres- 
byterians emigrated to and settled in the north of Ireland, 
and their descendents known as the Scotch-Irish later came 
to this country, many of them locating in New England 
and during the revolution identified themselves with the 
cause of liberty. 

William Knox and Mary the daughter of Robert Camp- 
bell were married in Boston, February, 1735, of this imion 
Henry, bom July 25, 1750, was the seventh of ten brothers, 
four of whom only arrived at manhood, of these the two 
elder were lost at sea and William, the youngest, was asso- 
ciated in business with his more illustrious brother until 
his death. 

Financial reverses overtook the father, and at his death 
Henry about to graduate from the Boston Grammar School 
found himself the sole support of his mother and young 
brother. Leaving school he took a place in a book store, 
here with his ever active and suggestive mind he studdied 
the pages of the books with which he was surrounded and 
learned to speak and write the French language, an accom- 
plishment which stood him in good stead later, he being 
one of the very few of Washington's officers able to converse 
in their native tongue with our French allies. At his 
majority he started a book store of his own, which soon 
became a fashionable resort of the educated and wealthy of 
Boston. A most frequent visitor was Miss Lucy Flucker, 
daughter of Thomas the royal secretary of the province, 
whom Knox later married in opposition to her arristocratic 
tory family influences. The aged-yellow letters passing 
between these two throughout their lives which survive 
them, convince that this was a love match, the ardour of 
which age did not dim. 



^ ►-•ociefcf 



Address by J. W, S, Campbell 3 

Notwithstanding the character of his business and 
studious habits, Knox was no molly-coddle, at the age of 
eighteen we find him a member of an artillery company. 
The British had ever encouraged the martial spirit among 
the colonists and this company received most valuable 
training from British officers stationed in Boston. This was 
the schooling of this soldier. This artillery company 
known as "The Train" possessed three brass field pieces 
which were in active service during the entire war, and 
while Knox was Secretary of War he had two of them dub- 
bed "Hancock" and "Adams" and suitably inscribed with 
their history. These are now in the chamber at the top of 
the Bunker Hill monument. 

The storm was then brewing that was soon to break. 
Large promises were held out to young Knox to induce him 
to accept a commission in the royal cause. He was regarded 
as too valuable a man to be lost from the military service 
of the King. As a well-known sympathizer with the rebel- 
lious colonists he was kept under surveillance and forbidden 
to leave Boston. For a time the exodus of persons who 
identified themselves with the patriotic cause had rather 
been encouraged than prohibited, only men who like Knox 
might render real service to the gathering forces were pro- 
hibited by special order. 

About one year after his marriage unable to tarry longer 
in Boston inactive, he secretly left the town accompanied 
by his wife, his sword cunningly concealed in the lining of 
Mrs. Knox cloak. Repairing to the headquarters of General 
Artemus Ward he offered his services as a volunteer, de- 
clining any special commission. Skilled engineers were in 
great demand in the patriot army. Knox's talents as an 
engineer and artillerist were called into active use. His 
was clearly the master spirit in the execution of the form- 
idable works that now began to surround the beleagured 
town of Boston. This was before Washington took com- 
mand of the army. Washington later after viewing the 
works thrown up for the defence of the encampments, in a 



4 Address by J. W. S. Campbell 

letter describes them as having been planned by a Mr, 
Knox of Worcester, the town where Knox had taken his 
wife for safety. 

Knox was strictly a volunteer until upon the urging of 
Washington, congress appointed him a Colonel of artillery, 
his commission being dated November 17, 1775. From 
then on to the close of the war wherever Washington was, 
there was Knox also, at Long Island, New York, Valley 
Forge, Morristown, Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth and 
Yorktown, and in the darkest days of the revolution when 
Washington's usually well-balanced and calm mind was 
distracted by visions of failure and inevitable defeat of his 
countrys cause, it was Knox's cheery spirit and resolute 
belief in the ultimate success of the patriots that strength- 
ened the faith of the commander-in-chief. Finally to him 
was committed the most difficult and delicate of tasks, dis- 
banding a discontented, half clad, underfed and long 
neglected army without being able to pay them, memorials 
setting forth the condition of affairs had been addressed 
and presented to congress without avail, the business and 
the affairs of both officers and men had been ruined by the 
long war, to be turned adrift, so to speak, without a place 
to lay their heads and without money, with large arrearages 
of pay due them, and in many instances ruined in health, 
was the problem submitted to him to solve. About this 
time as a result of these conditions, the famous Newburgh 
letter appeared, out of which event seems to have been 
evolved in the ever busy mind of Knox, the jiappy idea of 
the organization of a society to perpetuate the friendships 
formed by the officers of the army and to provide for the 
indigent widows and surviving children. As one writer 
puts it "and thus on the 13th of May, 1783, out of the net- 
tle danger implied in the incendry Newburgh Addresses, 
was plucked the flower safety, consumate in The Society of 
the Cincinnati". 

Knox succeded General Lincoln as Secretary of War 
under the Confederation of States, and was appointed 



Address by J. W. S. Campbell 5 

Secretary of War in Washington's Cabinet under the Con- 
stitution ; he laid the foundation for the military academy, 
the establishment of an arsenal, the coast fortifications, and 
under his administration the keels were laid of The Consti- 
tution, The President, The United States, The Chesa- 
peake, The Constelation and The Congress, the first ves- 
sels of the navy. 

Before attending the convention to which we owe the 
Constitution of the United States, Washington requested 
the opinions of several of his intimate friends and old com- 
panions relative to a plan of general government, Knox 
wrote a modest and manly letter in which he advised that 
it was prudent to form the plan of a new house before we 
pull down the old one, and he proceeded to write of a plan 
for a federal government, instead of an association of 
governments; he adds, were it possible to affect a 
general goverment of this kind, it might be constituted 
of an Assembly, or Lower House, chosen for one, two 
or three years; a Senate chosen for five, six or seven 
years, and the executive, under the title of Governor- 
General, chosen by the Assembly and the Senate for a term 
of seven years, but liable to an impeachment by the Lower 
House and triable by the Senate; a Judiciary, to be ap- 
pointed by the Governor-General during good behaviour, 
but impeachable by the Lower House and triable by the 
Senate ; the laws passed by the general government to be 
obeyed by the local governments, and, if necessary, to be 
enforced by a body of armed men ; to be kept for the pur- 
pose which should be designated, all national objects to be 
designed and executed by the general government without 
any reference to the local governments. This rude sketch 
is considered as the government of the least possible powers 
to preserve the confederate governments. To attempt to 
establish less will be to hazard the existance of republican- 
ism, and to subject us either to a division of the European 
Powers, or to a despitism arising from high-handed com- 
motions. It will be observed the closeness with which 



6 Address by J. W. S. Campbell 

Knox's crude plan projects the lines on which the Constitu- 
tion was finally moulded. 

To better look after the material interests of his family, 
he resigned from the Cabinet December 28, 1794, and re- 
moved to Thomaston, Maine, to develop the estate some 
thirty miles square owned by his wife, known as the Waldo 
Patent issued to General Samuel Waldo, the maternal 
grandfather of Mrs. Knox. He named this estate Mont- 
pelier; here he built a mansion sumptions for those primi- 
tive days; here his active mind found full occupation, 
employing in his various industries over one hundred men, 
besides he found time to engage in public affairs. Here he 
died October 25, 1806, and his remains rest in the cemetary 
which he in his lifetime had given to the town of Thomas- 
ton. A severe plain shaft of limestone is placed over the 
grave with this inscription, "The Tomb of Major-General 
Henry Knox who died October 25, 1806, aged 56 years 
'Tis Fates decree; Farewell, thy just renown. 
The Hero's honour, and the good Man's crown. 

Twelve children were born to General and Mrs, Knox, 
of these nine died in infancy, one son, Harry, lived to 
maturity and was married but died without issue, two 
daughters, Lucy Flucker and Caroline siirvived their 
parents, Lucy the eldest born married Ebenezer Thatcher, 
and Caroline married first James Swan, second John Holmes. 

General Knox is represented in the Massachusetts Society 
of the Cincinnati by Henry Knox Sikes of Rigeland, Mass., 
Late Lieutenant United States Volunteers. 

The excuse, friends, for this quite inadequate outline of 
the eminent services of Major-General Henry Knox is that, 
if you shall feel and think as I do, the memory of the illus- 
trious founder of the Cincinnati will hereafter be honored 
at every gathering of this State Society. 



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